Manitoba’s minimum wage not enough to live on

(Winnipeg) – A week before the one year anniversary of NDP’s provincial election win, Manitoba Federation of Labour president Kevin Rebeck is calling on the Kinew government to repeal Brian Pallister’s minimum wage law and replace it with a plan to make Manitoba’s minimum wage a living wage.

“No one should work full-time but still live in poverty, but that is the harsh reality for many minimum wage earners in Manitoba,” said Rebeck. “Working families continue to feel squeezed by rising prices, and next week’s minimum wage increase will still leave minimum wage earners over $3 short of what they need to stay above the poverty line.”

According to the most recent living wage calculation by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives – Manitoba, Winnipeg’s living wage is $19.21/hr. A living wage is the amount people need to earn to cover the basic needs of a family, such as rent and groceries.

The Pallister government froze Manitoba’s minimum wage for one year and then passed legislation that only allowed the minimum wage to increase by the previous year’s inflation rate. Because of the one year freeze and the fact that starting point for the inflationary increases was below a living wage level, the Pallister law ensures that minimum wage earners will never get above the poverty line. The failure of this law was made clear by the Stefanson government when it had to override this legislation twice in one year in order to keep our minimum wage from falling to dead last in the country.

Rebeck added that he would like to see the NDP government take control and institute its own plan to lift minimum wage earners out of poverty instead of allowing Brian Pallister to continue to set Manitoba’s minimum wage.

“It is time for a new approach to minimum wage in our province, one that helps low-wage workers cover groceries, rent and other essential costs,” said Rebeck. “We know that the Ministers of Families and Housing, Addictions and Homelessness will be consulting with Manitobans about the government’s poverty reduction plans this fall. Now is the time for the NDP government to take our minimum wage out of the hands of Brian Pallister and empower the current cabinet to make a difference in the lives of Manitoba’s low-wage workers.”

Recent polling conducted by Probe Research Inc. and commissioned by the MFL shows that an overwhelming majority (69 per cent) of Manitobans believe that no one working full time making minimum wage should live below the poverty line. Only ten per cent of Manitobans think Manitoba’s minimum wage is enough to live on.